Misunderstood
by Choices
Summary: FULL SUMMARY INSIDE; Sequel to Mistaken. Now that Kiara’s cub has been born, life couldn’t have been better for Sash; he had a great family and was living a healthy life – but wait, who’s this new enemy? And what do they have in common with Sash’s father,


Misunderstood

_Misunderstood_

Disclaimer: I do not own Lion King but I do own Mali/ Sash, Bob, Gus, Tar, Jam, Zanzibar, Natasha, the newcomers, and the plot.

Summary: Now that Kiara's cub has been born, life couldn't have been better for Sash; he had a great family and was living a healthy life – but wait, who's this new enemy? And what do they have in common with Sash's father, Zanzibar? And why did Tar and Jam suddenly come back? Sequel to Mistaken.

Message from Me: Ehehe… hi everybody!! - -; Okay, I'm sorry for the late update and I know no excuse will cover it. - -; So, I hope this sequel is to your liking. (I kind of had no plot for this at first so… yeah… ;)

(Note: Mali will now be know as Sash, as to prevent confusion. However, Simba and company will continue calling him "Mali" because they are not accustomed to calling him "Sash".)

- Cuts ribbon –

--

Sash's Names:

Mom: Kiara

Dad: Kovu

Mama: Nala

Dada: Simba

Mommy: Natasha

Daddy: Zanzibar

--

It had been about a five months since Sash and his family had decided to live with Kiara and the others. Sash had grown into a fairly headstrong cub from the feeble frightened infant he was before… he still needed a bit more common sense, however.

Kiara's cub had made it into life, safe and sound; however, Sash's eyes were almost ruined as he wondered why Mom was groaning and growling. (Luckily, Zanzibar made it in time to save his innocence.)

Kiara's cub had been named Natah because Sash had said that she looked like a Natah. (He wasn't able to speak that coherently during that time.)

Natah had his mother's bright ginger fur and her loving smile; he also had a small tuff a slightly darker fur on his head, courtesy of Kovu; his eyes were a kind of hazy hazelnut, very adorable when they were wide with curiosity. Basically, he was a mixture of his mother and father.

Right when Natah was born, Sash had to be put into custody for a bit because whenever he was around the newborn, he was grow too excited and nearly injure Natah.

But, now, Natah was about three and a half weeks old, old enough to walk and growl; Sash was having quite a bit of fun "teaching" Natah about the wonders of the world.

"Butterfly." Sash pointed a white paw up into the air at a small fluttering yellow insect; he stood up on his hind legs and tried to grab it between his front paws.

Natah meowed, tilting his head in a cute fashion; he also tried standing up on his hind legs, only to end up falling backwards on his back; he growled angrily and helplessly kicked his limbs into the air.

Sash heard a small thump behind him and turned around, on all fours again; he giggled at the struggling cub and gently pounced on him, both rolling a bit until Natah was struggling a bit under Sash's grasp.

In turn, Sash decided to lick Natah mercilessly, from his face to his stomach; Natah emitted a purring sound as his little tummy was being licked; well, he had always loved baths.

Natasha giggled at the little cubs' fun; she always loved seeing new lives going the correct direction.

Zanzibar, however, rolled his eyes at his mate's actions; seriously, he just didn't understand females; he rested his head on his folded paws and yawned; there wasn't much to do today, 'cept just to stay sprawled on the ground sunbathing.

Kiara smiled at the lioness and leopard next to her; they had grown quite fond of each other because of their closeness towards Sash… Though, she really didn't understand Zanzibar that much, she could relate to Natasha quite well.

Simba and Nala had decided to go hunting a bit, Kovu just following for the fun of it. Though, Kiara did protest for he had half the responsibility of Nata after all. But, when Kovu said that he would do cleanup duty, Kiara agreed; she didn't really like bringing out an accident from the den.

Kiara watched the two cubs play around, Natah now gnawing on Sash's black-tipped ear, who was desperately trying to escape the tickling feeling. Her eyes softened; nothing could ruin this…

Suddenly, a loud "BOOM" echoed throughout the grassland, scaring away flocks of birds and herds of herbivores; Kiara, Natasha and Zanzibar all took heed to this, standing up immediately and the lionesses rushing to their cubs.

Sash and Natah wondered about the new sound, Sash thinking of how it was so familiar; they both meowed in disappointment when their mothers picked them up by their scruffs; Natah uselessly kicked his little legs in the air, obviously in disdain about the situation.

"Natasha, Kiara," Zanzibar called out, jumping off the juts of Pride Rock; "Quick, hide back inside the cave – I'll look for the others." The two lionesses nodded their heads, doing as they were ordered.

Zanzibar's fur was bristled, alert and cautious; he had never heard this sound before, but he knew it was dangerous; his instincts told him so.

He hurried to find Simba and the others; the longer he stayed out here, the higher the danger would be.

"Simba, Kovu, Nala – where are you?!" he roared out, ignoring the fact he could be attracting the threat.

"Zanzibar?!" he heard several voices call back, ears fully attentive; "Over here!" Zanzibar reacted, "Hurry up!"

Two lions and one lioness showed up, all in good condition; however, their bodies were tense, showing that they knew something about this new sound.

The leopard quickly shook the thought off and informed the three, "We must hurry back to Pride Rock – something doesn't seem good about that blast." The three hesitantly nodded and Zanzibar took note of how they hadn't spoken yet.

Once they had reached Pride Rock, an anxious Kiara met them; "Natasha and the cubs are inside sleeping," she notified them and added, "Zanzibar, could you please go inside for a moment?" Zanzibar, although completely confused, complied; right before he walked inside, he glanced backwards, and then entered.

The four let out a breath they didn't know they were holding. Kiara was the first to speak; "That sound… it's like the one from before…"

Kovu nodded in agreement; "Do you… think they're back?" he asked, uncertainly.

Simba and Nala both nodded; though it had been so many months since the two lionesses had attacked, they still remembered them – Tar and Jam. Where had they been all this time?

"Do you think they're after Sash again?" Nala asked, her eyes glazed with worry and added, "They weren't that hard to fend off but what if they harm him or Natah or any of us?"

Simba's eyes were trying to figure out what to do; they had to take precautions for they couldn't risk anyone dying; "We'll wait for them; we won't let the cubs know anything about this – we'll need to tell Zanzibar and Natasha, though. The more help, the better," he decided. The lion and lionesses agreed.

If they were going to come back, they would fight them.

--

Natah hissed at being kept inside; he didn't understand – it was perfect weather to be playing outside! Why did he and Sash have to be kept inside? His mother had gone outside after all!

"Hush, little on," Natasha gently told Kiara and Kovu's toddler, but to no avail. His ears were folded back onto his head and he was in striking position; his slightly violent plays with Sash had paid off.

"Don't worry, Natah!" Sash exclaimed, hopping onto the dissatisfied lion cub and tangling them both into a bunch of limbs.

Natah quickly changed from dislike to content in an instant as playtime resumed.

Natasha sighed and promptly noted that Natah would probably only listen to Sash and his parents.

She heard Zanzibar pace in, having already memorized his sounds; she turned back and asked, "Where are the others?"

"They're outside," Zanzibar blandly answered, slumping onto his back and his front paws scratched his belly; he grunted when the children hopped onto his stomach.

Natasha squinted and then settled herself next to Zanzibar, lying down on her stomach. "Natasha…" he muttered, a bit threateningly. Natasha smiled at her mate's concern and nuzzled his spotted neck; "I'll be okay…" she assured him. Her eyesight was almost gone, leaving her nearly blind; the best she could see were fuzzy images of everything; however, her other senses were amplified so she would be fine without her sight; she had kept on repeating this to her very worried husband.

After a while, Sash began to grow tired, yawning every now and then, which made Natah yawn too; the two finally settled down to sleep, Natah lying down on Sash's belly.

It wasn't long before the rest of the pride entered the cave as well; however, something was on their minds and Zanzibar sensed that.

"What's going on?" he suddenly demanded, standing on all fours; his fur suddenly bristled again – he didn't like how their faces seemed worried and concerned and… slightly frightened.

Kiara and Nala passed by him to protectively curl around the youngsters, as did Natasha who caught on. Simba and Kovu signaled Zanzibar outside and the males hurriedly paced outside.

"We think a previous threat is coming back," Kovu bluntly stated, "They're pretty easy to fend off but they have these weapons that made that sound earlier – we don't know how deadly it is so we're being _very_ careful about them."

Zanzibar nodded, understanding the significance of the situation; "Are the others informing Natasha about this?" he questioned the two; they both nodded.

He sighed; he had no idea what to do in a situation like that… being cornered by others who were stronger than you… he had mercilessly injured every one of his leopard kin when that happened but he supposed that wasn't the correct choice.

"Come on," he heard Simba say, "We should rest now. We'll go over it in the morning." Kovu and Zanzibar nodded, following Simba inside Pride Rock where their family was.

--

"Something bad is going to happen and it involves that noise," Kiara explained, her paws folded; "We know the… creatures who use it and we think they're coming back."

"Oh dear," Natasha responded, "Is there something we can do about it?"

Nala dejectedly shook her head; "Not now – we'll just have to wait and see when they come and then we'll strike."

Natasha nodded her head in understanding but one question remained in her mind; "Exactly… how bad is this threat?"

Kiara answered, "So bad that they might just kill you."

Sash's back stiffened but the females didn't notice; not even did the males notice when they returned; and when they all fell asleep, Sash did not. He sat up and stared at his family.

"Bad…" was the only thought on his mind; he fell asleep, tenderly cuddling Natah.

--

Two white-painted lionesses purred under Gus's pets; ah, how they relished his soft rubs.

They felt migraines coming on as they smelled their other owner smoke again, however; they tried leaving their attention on the wondrous petting as they eavesdropped on their owners' conversation.

"… That white cub must've at least grown a bit by now – it should still be worth the same price." They heard Bob take another puff of his "cigarette" as they remembered and then he continued; "If we just follow my plan, we can snag it and sell it to some foreigner."

"Yeah, but your plan involves me dying," they heard Gus slightly retort; he didn't halt his scratching as he tried to occupy his mind on that instead of on his partner's obnoxiousness.

Tar eyed her older sister, Jam thinking the same; they purred and rubbed against Gus's legs, both wanting to leave the situation. Gus, taking note of this, said, "Come back when you hear the whistle and be careful" and watched the two lionesses stroll away from their tent.

Gus sighed as Bob replayed the plot through his mind: he was to distract the protective lions and such while Bob stole the defenseless cub; it was foolproof, as Bob had stated, but Gus had pointed out the kinks in the plot. He knew Bob didn't give a thought about Gus's life but that didn't mean that Gus was about to let himself end up killed for Bob's benefit.

"If you didn't happen to notice, _I'm_ the only one who can control Tar and Jam," Gus reminded his partner, completely tired with him; he needed a new partner – _NOW_. Sadly, he was not granted that.

"Che," Bob reacted, inhaling his cigarette; he had grown addicted to them when he had found a packet lying innocently on the floor and took every and any chance to buy some. Gus had warned him about lung cancer and such but he didn't give a care about that. He blew out a smoke circle, throwing the finished item outside the tent.

"Hey, if you don't properly dispose of that, you're going to create a fire." Gus quickly ran over to the still lit cigarette and smashed it under his shoe, making sure that the fire was out.

"As if I care about a few birds – unless they're super rare and supposedly extinct, like say a passenger bird," Bob replied, "Now, _that_ would be a lot of money."

Gus responded, "You know they're extinct so make sure your mind comes back to reality – I don't want a dead partner just because he was daydreaming." "However, you are an exception," he added in his mind.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Bob reacted, lighting up another cigarette; "Those lions better hurry up because the minute they come back, we're going hunting again." He blew out another huff of air.

Gus sighed; he really needed a new life.

--

:X It looks like little Sash isn't as innocent as he seems; I particularly like Natah, whose profile is in now. I hope this was to everyone's liking; I know it was late and short – which the rest of the chapters will probably be – and I'll _try_ to update quickly but I can't promise anything. - -; Please review! I'll try and post up the next chapter ASAP!! (The Gus and Bob part was in the next morning, if it confused any of you.) Bye now!


End file.
